


No Greater Enemy

by carpfish



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Act 5 spoilers, Comedy, M/M, Self-cest, Time Travel Double
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 04:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18336215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpfish/pseuds/carpfish
Summary: Utsuki Chikage is not surprised that his past has come back to kill him. What he didn't expect was for the past to try and steal his (hopefully, to-be) boyfriend at the same time.Chikage x Sakuya x April





	No Greater Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Working title "Chikage gets bit in the ass by what a bastard he was as a teenager". 
> 
> Mentions violence, abuse and shitty spy training badtimes, but mostly meant to be a lighthearted comedy piece. Suggested by Jun who wanted Chikage x Sakuya x April. 
> 
> Rating subject to change.

Despite all the progress he’s made in Mankai, Utsuki Chikage has and always will be an extremely light sleeper. So when a pair of hands quietly reach down to wrap around his neck in the middle of the night, he is more than ready to defend himself.

Chikage’s own hands immediately shoot up in response, grabbing where his assailant’s elbow would be and snapping it backwards with every intent of breaking bone. Unfortunately, his attacker is smart enough to turn their entire body with the force so that their elbow only twists instead of breaking. A brief grappling match ensues in the narrow space of Chikage’s bed, with heads hitting against ceilings and limbs flailing over the edge of the bunk. But throughout their struggle in his unlit bedroom, Chikage catches glimpses of his would-be assassin: green hair, narrow eyes, a firm, slender frame.

Chikage manages to pin his attacker against the mattress and grabs their wrist for a closer look. There it is, the faint splash of paler skin, traces of a chemical burn scar from careless meddling in August’s lab. The crooked knob of bone that never healed quite right after January nearly broke his fingers. Chikage scans the litany of familiar scars and blemishes before him, noting which ones are there and which are not yet present, before coming to his conclusion.

“April,” Chikage says flatly, hating how much he sounds like a character in one of Chigasaki’s inane video games. “You’re me.”

The April before him is younger by at least half a decade, less seasoned but more feral. Chikage recalls that January had never really been able to tame the street cat out of him, not till after August’s death. Looking at his teenage self, it really shows.

April bares his teeth in what only can be described as a snarl. “Of course I know. Why else to do you think I'm trying to kill you?”

Before Chikage can even begin to respond to this supreme display of pettiness, April twists himself around painfully until his shoulder gives a sick sounding _pop_ out of its socket. This little bit of extra reach and Chikage's momentary hesitation are all April needs, apparently, to stick a leg out and kick Chikage in the face. The boy’s kick doesn’t have much force behind it from that angle, it’s clearly meant to be far more insult than injury. And Chikage feels _very_ insulted.

Luckily, with one of April’s arms more or less out of commission, it takes less than a minute for Chikage to get the boy in full-body hold. It was a stupid move, disabling himself out of spite. Even so, April glares up at his older self with a stink-eye so intense that Chikage can smell it. In the past, he had deeply resented all the beatings, trainings, and scoldings about “discipline” and “authority” he’d been put through. Now, Chikage’s impressed that January hadn’t-

April gathers his saliva and _spits_ right in Chikage’s face.

Forget January. If not for the risk of erasing his own existence, Chikage would fucking end this kid himself.

 

* * *

 

“-and that is why my kid cousin will be staying with us for a short while, I apologize for the disturbance,” Chikage says, grabbing April by the back of the head as he pulls the both of them into a deep, reverent bow.

Mankai Dorm’s living room is public enough that April seems willing to behave, at least for now. Chikage’s initial plan had been to sedate the kid, cram him into a duffel bag, and lock him in the hideout until he disappeared. But Hisoka, who had shown up to either support or laugh (possibly both), pointed out that all of the hideout’s locks could be bypassed with Chikage’s own DNA, which his past self obviously possessed as well. This means that Chikage has no choice but to keep this hissing, yowling teenage pain-in-the-ass in the dorms until figuring out what else to do with him. As if they didn’t have enough problem children already.

Speaking of which, Azami looks up from where his beauty magazines and raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Kid cousin? You sure that’s not your bastard son instead? The resemblance is really creepy.”

This earns a small snicker from Itaru, who had said the same thing just minutes ago, and is just generally being a total brat at the prospect of yet another roommate. Chikage feels a vein in his temple pulse as if on verge of aneurysm, but the business smile on his face does not waver. “And if he were? How young would I have been when I sired him, you think?” Chikage replies, taking a little too much glee at the scandalized reaction from all parties. Thankfully, that is enough to shut Azami up, sending him glaring red-faced back into his magazines.

It’s a good thing that the rest of Mankai is already so accustomed to hearing Chikage spout the most absurd bullshit, or else he'd never be able to sell the story of April being a rebellious cousin running away from parental disputes. That being said, April’s sullen, angsty expression does fit the narrative. Despite his earlier defiance, April has mostly gone silent and brooding ever since he set eyes on Hisoka. Chikage knows himself well enough to know that his younger self’s sudden change in attitude has absolutely nothing to do with surrender. Hisoka- December- being here makes all the difference. For Chikage, it always has, and always will. But more importantly, if both Hisoka and Chikage are here, then April’s bound to notice what’s missing in the space between them. Or rather, _who’s_ missing.

There has never been any iteration of April or Chikage that would be willingly parted from his family, and Chikage knows that his younger self is a total bastard, but far from an idiot. April’s face says that he’s figured out that something has happened to August, even if he might not know what. Chikage has no intentions of telling him any time soon, for fear of further breaking the timeline as well as his own tentatively healing heart. But if mulling over August’s fate and the imminent loss of his family is enough to keep April docile and non-murderous for the time being, then Chikage will take it.  

“Welcome to the Mankai Dorms, Utsuki-kun.” Director Tachibana is the first to greet April because of course she is. She shoots a sunny smile at the stormy-faced teenager, then a questioning gaze towards Chikage. What she gets in reply is an easygoing shrug: as much of a non-answer as it gets. Izumi raises an eyebrow suspiciously, but she eventually turns back towards April without any further inquiry. It stands to reason that the Director has a rather impressive tolerance for the abnormal, given the motley cast that she’s recruited. Even now, Chikage is unsure if she _trusts_ him persay, but at the very least she trusts him with the safety of Spring Troupe and Mankai. Chikage has no intention of letting that trust go to waste.

“So long as Itaru-san is fine with it, I see no problem with letting Utsuki-kun stay with you while his parents are away,” the Director says, conveniently ignoring the fact that Itaru is very much _not_ fine with it, just bullied into compliance. “Just don’t let it get too much in the way of your rehearsals, alright? Spring Troupe’s next play is just around the corner.”

“Don’t worry, Director! I’ll take responsibility for making sure Chikage-san keeps up with practice.” Sakuya’s bright voice cuts through Chikage’s brooding like sunshine through cloud cover. He hadn’t even realized he’d been brooding; it seems that Chikage still bears much more similarity to April than he’d like to admit.

Sakuya emerges from behind the kitchen counter where he’d been doing dishes, and wipes his hands on his hoodie before extending one towards April. “I’m Sakuma Sakuya, leader of the Spring Troupe that your cousin Chikage is a part of.” He beams warmly at April, completely unbothered by the boy’s refusal to make eye contact with anything but the floor. “We’re all family here, so make yourself right at home, Utsuki-kun.”

Chikage sees April’s eyes flick up at the word “family”, meeting Sakuya’s gaze with nothing but anger, resentment, and distrust. There is only one family that this April recognizes right now, and he’s just discovered that he’s going to lose it all. Chikage can’t exactly blame April for his reaction, but the hostility with which he glares at Sakuya ignites a protective twinge in Chikage’s chest. He highly doubts that April is going to go for Sakuya’s throat in front of all these people; even at that age, Chikage was better trained than that. But if push comes to shove, Chikage is more than ready to defend his leader against anyone, even himself.

Luckily, it doesn’t come to that. Sakuya may inspired feelings of protectiveness in the way that most small prey animals do, but he is far from being as helpless as one. Despite all of Chikage’s intel on Sakuya’s upbringing and family life (or lack thereof) prior to Mankai, he still has no clue what taught Sakuya such impressive skill in nurturing others. Sakuya’s loneliness radar is second to none, and even after all the redheaded leader has done for him, Chikage still struggles to pinpoint what it is that makes Sakuya so effective. Maybe it’s the earnestness, the stubbornness, the pure, single-mindedness of belief. Or maybe it’s the fact that Sakuya is just as much of a lonely child as the rest of them, and like attracts like. April scowls like this right now, but he has no clue of how quickly Sakuya is sure to get through to him. Just like he did with Chikage before. (Later? Who knows, with this time business.)

As he’s thinking this, Chikage is aware that he’s staring at Sakuya, but what he isn’t aware of is the fact that April’s staring at him. By the time Chikage notices April’s expression of ice cold anger change into a shit-eating, spiteful grin, it’s already far too late.

“So,” April asks, his voice dripping with sweetness, delight and pure, unadulterated evil. “Is this another one of my siblings, Papa?”

The Mankai living room explodes into chaos, with Sakuya’s face coloring to match his hair, Azami hollering as he escapes with his fingers stuck in his ears, and Itaru breaking into hysterics. Chikage looks his old self dead in the eye, and considers whether he’s willing to jeopardize his present timeline just to give this brat what’s coming to him.

Correction: Sakuya will have a chance to get through to April if there’s anything left after Chikage’s done with him.  


End file.
